Cardboard Inspiration

August 4th, 2011 in inspiration by sheila4 Comments

Our youngest monkey, Alexander, has been obsessed with cardboard for years. Before he could pull the tape off of the dispenser, he was cutting in to boxes and making things. As a result, the cats have grown up with toys made for them out of cardboard. Now when they hear the scratchy sound of scissors on cardboard, they come running. And they are usually playing in the object before Alexander even finishes, much to his frustration.

The first photo is a collection of swords and shields Alexander made from cardboard using duct tape. He makes his own designs and will cut everything out himself using full size scissors.

Here’s another fine example of Alexander’s handiwork. This cat house, made from large box, has a sky light, paned window, front garden, pond, tree, tiled entry path and fenced yard. There’s also an addition on the back to allow for room to turn around. The cats will lay in wait in the door way until someone walks by and then attack. Sneaky little creatures. Alexander mainly works with tape. In this case, duct tape. Since the cats play with the project while he’s creating, there is no way we could use glue.

Here are some other ideas for cardboard from around the interwebs:

This one is for the little ones from Imagination Tree. When we had some new appliances delivered, they gave us a few refrigerator boxes. They are cool on their own because of the sheer size, but this great idea allows for contained chaos. Wouldn’t it be fun to make a map of your neighborhood? Check your Sears or Best Buy for large boxes.

While we are on the subject of cities, why not go vertical? This tower city by Annalise Rees is so much fun and a great way to play with smaller boxes. (via Whipup.net) For the younger ones, why not cut out a bunch of windows from contact paper and let glue or tape them to the city? Not as cool as having lights but a lot less mess.

There’s really no end to the fun things you can make with cardboard. Here are 32 things you can make from Tipjunkie. So start saving those boxes! I have a stash of cool shaped cardboard boxes and containers just waiting for an ‘I’m bored’ day.